NATO to deploy command ships, aircrafts to Turkey as defensive measure
Source: NATO to deploy command ships, aircrafts to Turkey as defensive measure – Daily Sabah
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gestures as he speaks during a press conference before a Foreign Affairs meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels (AFP Photo)
NATO has decided to send command ships and aircrafts to strengthen Turkey’s protection, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
The U.K. will station aircrafts in Turkey’s İncirlik Airbase in Adana. Germany and Denmark will also strengthen their support by deploying command ships to the Mediterranean.
While NATO has increased its air defenses in Turkey throughout the years, the downing of the Russian warplane, which violated the ally’s airspace on Nov.24, has fueled NATO support.
“NATO has for decades supported Turkey as a NATO ally and we have standing defense plans for Turkey,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels ahead of the meeting NATO foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting comes after a Russian warplane was downed for violating Turkey’s airspace near the Syrian border on Nov. 24.
“We will discuss at this meeting how we can continue to support Turkey and continue to provide different kinds of measures,” Stoltenberg said, however he insisted the commitment predated Ankara’s shooting down of a Russian jet on the Syrian border.
“I would like to underline… that this is something not related to the incident last week. It has been going on for several years as part of our commitment to an ally,” he told journalists at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Russia said this week that it had deployed its advanced S-400 air defence system at its base in Latakia, Syria, following the shooting down of a Russian fighter jet by Turkish aircraft in November.
“[The] focus now should be on how we can de-escalate, calm tensions, and address the need to improve strengthened mechanisms to avoid that kind of incidents we saw last week and create more predictability, more transparency so we avoid that kind of incidents,” he said.
The foreign ministers will also discuss the situation in Afghanistan, relations with Russia and support for Ukraine.
They are expected to invite Montenegro into the military alliance, despite objection from Russia.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Montenegro’s accession is among several topics as top diplomats from its 28 member states meet Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels.
Stoltenberg said a decision on a formal invitation to Montenegro will come Wednesday, but two NATO diplomats said it’s a done deal. Russia has warned Montenegro that its joining NATO would be regarded as a provocation.
NATO last expanded in 2009 when Albania and Croatia joined.
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